Bloomington South’s Violet Hall earns Top Award from the USATF Several weeks ago, USA Track and Field sent out a survey to several athletes asking whether they’d like to be considered for All-American honors. The email popped into Violet Hall’s inbox. The Bloomington South senior figured she was one of hundreds, maybe thousands, to get the query, especially after finding out a couple of friends she’d made while competing in Para track meets over the summer received them as well. Basically spam, she thought. But she filled it out, sent it back and forgot all about it. A couple of days ago, the USATF responded. Hall’s friend sent his Para High School All-American certificate, which listed his events. Hall got one too, but hers was different. “It said, ‘Female Athlete of the Year,” Hall said. “I said, ‘Wait, why is mine different?’ I sent it to him, and he said, “Read it. It literally says I won Track Athlete of the Year.’ I didn’t know. I was confused and then it hit me. “I sent a screen shot to my parents. Pretty cool.”
Pretty cool indeed for Hall, who was one of two high schoolers invited to represent Team USA in track at the Para World Games in New Delhi, India in September. She qualified in the 100 and 200 dashes in the T47 category. She was fifth in the 200, lowering her PR to 25.50 in the semifinals, and was eighth in the 100 in 12.62. The trip was a memorable one, though she and her father, who accompanied her, saw more of the inside of her hotel than any tourist traps. Hall spent much of her downtime between her four races, catching up on homework and applying to college. “Stuff I would have been doing at home,” said Hall, who also hit up the hotel pool a few times, the average high that time of year in the mid-90s and lows in the 70s. Team USA did set up a few trips as a group, but mostly it was a business trip, taking care to eat food prepared for the team to make sure no one got sick.
For her, the experience was everything as a first-time Para World Champ participant. She tried not to put any pressure on herself as a first-timer, just happy to be there and trying to do her best. If she got a medal, great. If not, it was huge just to be there.
“For me, it was more just an experience-building thing,” Hall said. “Running against people who have competed in Para circuits and worlds and Paralympics multiple times for 5-10 years.
“So being young an able to get to that point, I have so much more to prove, so much more to do for myself. I hope I can make a big difference and continue to grow.” She has certainly increased her circle of friends in the sport. “Probably just meeting everyone and competing at that level,” Hall said of the best thing about her trip. “Going into it, I had been watching those people race and I was on the line with them. It all happened so fast.” Hall’s first Para races took place early in the summer after the IHSAA state track meet ended. Three months later, she was in a massive stadium in India representing her country in a pro-like atmosphere. “The call room air felt a lot heavier,” Hall said. “Not just because of the pressure, but it was also hot. They had fans going and I was sitting right next to one. “Everyone was in their own bubble. Almost no one was talking. All you could hear was the fans.”
And after the developments of the past few months, she might be playing for a different set of fans at the college level than what she had envisioned a year ago. Basketball was her main sport and it’s still important as South has its sights set high this season. But track seems more likely in the future. “It’s definitely been a big change, a big shift, from basketball,” Hall said. “Going into my junior year, I wouldn’t have expected everything to have happened to happen. “I’m just extremely grateful for the opportunities I’ve been provided, and grateful God led me through it. I’m just very happy to get to where I am today and excited to continue.”
Bloomington North Boys Basketball Aces Two Game Road Trip to “The Region” Bloomington North boys basketball coach Jason Speer received an early Christmas present. It was a long drive back home down I-65 Tuesday, Dec. 23, but a happy one filled with thoughts of sugar plums and candy canes ― no scratch that, two well-played wins by his 5-1 Cougars at East Chicago Central on Monday and previously undefeated Class 4A No. 8 Chesterton on Tuesday. Speer has taken his team up to the Fishers Tournament the past two seasons but decided on a different tact this year, instead planning a team bonding road trip to The Region prior to the holiday break. It could have not worked out better as North hammered ECC in its historic 8,000-seat gym, 68-41, then took down Chesterton, 63-55, leading the entire way, in a pair of well-attended matinees. “What a fantastic experience for us,” Speer said. “We wanted to kind of have the holiday tourney experience and did, playing four games in five days and against two teams we hadn’t seen. “I think a lot of East Chicago Central and what a great opportunity there in Chesterton. I was grateful for the two wins. We certainly got better.”
For Speer, coaching at ECC was “kind of bucket list sort of thing.” East Chicago basketball was a hot bed in the late 1960s and early 70s with Roosevelt and Washington winning back-to-back in ’70-71. North guard Nate Walker’s dad went to high school there. As for the game, North started slowly after the long, big ride and coming off a tough loss Friday at Southport, followed by a tough one-point win the next night against Franklin. “The objective was to hit the wall,” Speer said. “When you’re tired, mentally and physically, how will you respond? My grade is an A+.”
Against Chesterton, the fouls were 12-2 in the Trojans favor in the first half, which allowed the home team to cut a 19-8 deficit to 25-21 by halftime. But this Cougar team, starters and reserves, was playing at peak performance and pulled away in the second half. A report on X listed Levi Lindeman with 22 points and six rebounds and Derrick Cross 11 points despite both sitting much of the first half. It turned into a great experience that could be used down the road as Walker had 13 points, five assists. Ka”Mareon Washington, John Bargan and Tevin Bridgwaters showed well as did freshman Tal Shoulberg. “The guys who came off the bench did a fantastic job,” Speer said. “Chesterton is a top 10 team and we’re four hours away from home, great crowd into it. There was a girls game after. Everybody was into it, and we led from start to finish.
“We were a different team. It’s kind of where we were the wrong team to play today. Our heart, our determination, our connectiveness offensively and defensively, we left it all out there. It was really a program win. Four games in five days, we challenged them and met our expectations.” Now if they can just bottle that up and open it before every tip-off. Some eyes were definitely opened as to what the Cougars can be. They’ll rest up and hit it again on Jan. 6 with a road game at Mooresville then the rivalry game with South on Jan. 9 (Maybe. Word is it could be moved if Indiana’s football team is in the Peach Bowl that same night). “Driving four hours, it could have gone bad,” Speer said. “Snow. Us not playing well. But if we’re going to be a competitive championship sort of team, this is the challenge we had to go through and I’m super happy.”
Indy Fuel’s Game with Fort Wayne Postponed Due to Players Strike Indy Fuel announced its Friday night game has been postponed. The Fuel were scheduled for a road game against the Fort Wayne Komets, set to begin at 7:35 p.m. Dec. 26. The game was postponed as members of the Professional Hockey Players’ Association are on strike in the ECHL since the union and the league cannot come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. According to a Facebook post from the Fuel, this is likely going to lead to the postponement of some games, and the team will be in direct communication with fans about any home games that will be postponed or rescheduled.
The ECHL released the following statement: “Unfortunately, union leaders deprived players of the opportunity to vote on our last, best, and final offer – an offer that would dramatically raise player salaries by 20 percent in the first year, boost the per-diem rate, guarantee more off days, and expand the top-of-the-line equipment available to players. We did everything possible to avoid this outcome, and hope that the union leadership will drop its unworkable scheduling demands, let the players vote on our offer, and make it possible for players to return to work.”
The PHPA announced Monday, Dec. 22 that its ECHL membership had served a strike notice that would be effective Friday, when play is scheduled to resume following the holiday break. Players voted Friday, Dec. 19 to authorize their bargaining committee to call for a strike, executive director Brian Ramsay said Monday. CBA talks began in January, with Ramsay accusing the league of unfair bargaining practices, including most recently contacting players directly with proposals, which have been reported to the National Labor Relations Board. “This is a league that has taken almost a year to concede that we should be entitled to choose helmets that properly fit us and are safe,” Ramsay said. “This is the league that still supplies our members with used equipment. This is a league that shows no concern for players’ travels and in fact has said the nine-hour bus trip home should be considered your day off. We have had members this year spend 28 hours-plus on a bus to play back-to-back games on a Friday and Saturday night, only to be paid less than the referees who work those very same games.”
The ECHL posted details of its latest proposal on its website Monday, saying it calls to raise the salary cap 16.4% this season, with retroactive pay upon ratification, and increases in total player salaries in future years to pay players nearly 27% more than the current cap. The league said it has also offered larger per diems, mandatory day-off requirements and a 325-mile limit for travel between back-to-back games. “Our approach will continue to balance the need to best support our players and maintain a sustainable business model that helps ensure the long-term success of our league so it remains affordable and accessible to fans,” the ECHL said, adding that the average ticket price is $21. “Negotiations have been progressing but not as quickly as we would like. ”We have reached a number of tentative agreements and remain focused on reaching a comprehensive new agreement that supports our players and the long-term health of every team in our league.”
Taking issue with the ECHL’s offer numbers, Ramsay said inflation would have players making less than the equivalent amount in 2018, prior to the pandemic. The league said a work stoppage would result in some games being postponed and players not being paid and losing housing and medical benefits that it pays for. Ramsay called threats of players losing their housing if there’s a strike an unfair labor practice in itself. “Consistently in the last six or eight weeks, teams trying to intimidate and bully our members, threaten our members with their jobs, with their housing, with their work visas if they’re from out of country — different tactics like that,” Ramsay said.
Jimmy Mazza, who played several seasons in the ECHL and is now on the negotiating committee, argued that owners do not know what it’s like to travel 29 hours in a bus or to be given a used helmet. “The top level, you know that those players aren’t being treated that way, so why are they treating us that way?” Mazza said. “To us, it’s a little bit of a slap in the face with the way these negotiations have gone for a year, when only five days ago, we get a little bit of movement on a helmet issue when it should have been done a year ago.” The ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League and now going just by the acronym, is a North American developmental league that is two levels below the NHL, with the American Hockey League in between. There are 30 teams, 29 of which are in the U.S. and one in Canada in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
Indiana Pacers drop their Seventh Straight Game Jaylen Brown scored 30 points and the Boston Celtics made 20 3-pointers in a 140-122 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. The All-NBA forward, who is averaging 29.4 points, shot 13 of 20 from the field and made two 3-pointers. Payton Pritchard added 29 points, making three 3s, and grabbed nine rebounds. The Celtics were 20 of 39 from beyond the arc compared to the Pacers’ 18 of 44. Reserve Sam Hauser was 7 for 8 behind the arc and scored 23 points, while Derrick White added 21 points with three 3s. The Celtics (19-11), winners of four in a row and back-to-back games against Indiana, were starting a five-game road trip. Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers (6-25) with 18 points and four 3s. The Celtics trailed by 15 midway through the first quarter, but methodically chipped away at the deficit, then pulled away with six 3-pointers in a 47-point second quarter for a 75-61 halftime lead.
Indianapolis Colts Put Defensive Tackle DeForest Buckner Back on Injured Reserve The Indianapolis Colts placed Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner back on injured reserve Friday, ending his season with two games still to play. Coach Shane Steichen told reporters that Buckner aggravated the neck injury that forced him to miss five games earlier this season. He returned for Monday night’s 48-27 loss to San Francisco, his former team. Buckner is expected to have surgery next week. Steichen also ruled out starting center Tanor Bortolini (concussion protocol), receiver-return specialist Anthony Gould (foot), tight end Drew Ogletree (neck) and defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau (oblique) for Sunday’s game against AFC South-leading Jacksonville (11-4).
It wasn’t all bad news. Steichen is hopeful two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner could return Sunday after missing three straight games with a strained calf. Indy acquired Gardner from the New York Jets in a trade deadline move in which the Colts sent two first-round draft picks to New York, and he played three games before getting hurt. Gardner finally returned to practice this week. Still, Indy’s playoff hopes have plummeted during a five-game losing streak and a stretch in which it has lost six of seven heading into Sunday. The Colts (8-7) and Jags also will be watching Saturday’s Texans-Chargers game closely because the Jags can clinch their first division title since 2022 with a win and a Texans loss. Indy, meanwhile, needs the Texans to lose to avoid elimination and Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, the 44-year-old grandfather, said Wednesday he’ll rooting hard for his former team, the Chargers.
Buckner’s first stint on injured reserve came in November — just before the Colts flew to Berlin to face Atlanta. Buckner returned to practice in mid-December and was activated last weekend before the 49ers game. He had not practiced this week. Buckner, a captain and one of the defense’s strongest voices, was seventh on the team with 47 tackles, was second with nine tackles for loss and was tied for second with four sacks despite missing five games in his 10th pro season. San Francisco drafted the former Oregon star with the seventh overall draft pick in 2016. He was traded to Indy in 2020.
Purdue University Football hires Veteran Defensive Coach Purdue continues to retool their defensive staff by adding a veteran to the staff. Barry Odom announced the hiring of Dave Steckel as a Senior Defensive Analyst. There is familiarity between Coach Odom and Coach Steckel going back to Coach Odom’s Missouri days. From 2015 to 2019 Steckel served as the Head Coach of Missouri State, while not wildly successful, having another veteran coach on staff with Head Coaching experience is so valuable. We can assume that Steckel will play a vital role in assisting new defensive coordinator Kevin Kane with the Barry Odom Scheme.